Author

Category: fractured radiance/sparks

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Let’s see, last time I posted was in April, and I signed off promising goals for the second quarter. And it’s been radio silence ever since.

But that’s because I’ve been busy, see! I finished rewriting the end of THROUGH CLOUDED EYES (much improved! though still needs work). I outlined ILLUMINATE THE NIGHT with a shiny new plot and have been (slowly) rewriting it. (And methinks I need to switch the POV from 3rd person past to 1st person past.) I went to the LDStorymakers conference in May which was AMAZING. (Definitely more on that!) I drove with my sister and our two kiddos (2 year old Turbo and her then-9-month-old daughter) to SC for a month of fun with my family. I started house hunting, physically looked at 85 homes, and we’re now under contract for a dreamy new pad. And, OH YEAH THIS:

I bought a new dress! ;)

I was planning on making the announcement on here when I turned 13 weeks, but I was still SO flipping nauseous, and as you can see, we’ve been busy, so it just got pushed to the way way way back burner. I’m currently 32 weeks along and due with another boy on November 3rd. We’re thrilled!

So now I’m in the last few weeks of pregnancy and we’re getting ready to move in 3 weeks. And also,Turbo’s birthday is in a month. And also we’re keeping our current home and renting it out, so we have lots to do to get it ready. Life is crazy! I can’t promise how much I’ll be active with the blogging for the rest of the year, but I will try so hard not to leave y’all hanging for 5 months again!

This started out as a What’s Up Wednesday post. I even published it and went to link it when I saw that’s no longer a thing. So this may seem a bit disjointed, but I’m kind of ready to get off the computer and eat some breakfast, and don’t feel like making it smoother. :)

First off, I finished the first draft of THROUGH CLOUDED EYES and I did it early, even! Wahoo! I finished it on March 29th, two days early. The word count is definitely low, but that’s always the case with my first drafts. I’ll layer in more introspection and detail as I revise. Plus, I need to add at least one more chapter. But I’m not thinking about that for now because I have a completed first draft!! And it feels soooo good! I’m going to let it sit for at least a month, though I’m still submitting chapters to my writing group on occasion, so I’m not getting a completely clean break from it.

I was supposed to get to ILLUMINATE THE NIGHT as soon as I finished TCE, but we started the month with lots of sickness in our house. I’ve been napping every day with Turbo, instead of writing. And I don’t feel bad about it. That’s how life is sometimes. But I need to buckle down. I thought I could go ahead and start writing, but I realized the changes I made are negating some aspects of the existing plot, so I need to do more tinkering before I can get to it. The thought was really discouraging me last week, and I told my writing group I was wondering if that means I should just give up on it, but they emphatically told me that NO I shouldn’t give up. That was encouraging to hear. I’ve been working on this story in some form for over 6 years now, and it’s hard to know if I’m too close to be subjective.

In January, I set some goals for the first quarter of the year. Let’s see how I did:

-Finish the first draft of THROUGH CLOUDED EYES. I’m currently at 30k of a projected 80k. Totally doable. SUCCESS!!! HUZZAH!!

-Decide what to do about the currently-drawered ILLUMINATE THE NIGHT. I love that book and I believe in it, and I need to figure out its future. SUCCESS AGAIN!! HUZZAH X2!

-Get a rough draft of my publishing plan. More on that later. Another success! I’ll post about this soon–promise!

-Decide about my super secret idea. Obvs, more on that later. So, I was thinking about offering editing services, but have decided against it for the time being. My life just isn’t in the right place right now. And that’s okay. But–this is a success! Yay!

-Blog every week. Start blogging about mental illness too. Fail. Not even close. But I’m not stressing about it.

-Cook dairy-free, grain-free dinners. The Mister is mostly paleo for bike racing, so I’d like to make dinners we can eat together as a family. And it’s good to end your day with a healthy meal. Fail! And I don’t care! It’s been a stressful first 3 months of the year, and I’ve been in survival mode for much of it.

-Get back into couponing. I’m actually starting that this week! Fail! Hah!

-Budget on a weekly basis. Gulp. Another fail!

So, I got 5 out of 9 goals. That’s over half. Not bad! I haven’t thought about any for the next quarter, so I’ll ruminate on that the next week and come up with some for next week.

What’s Up Wednesday is an easy and fun weekly blog hop that’s hosted by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk. All you do is answer the four main questions, then visit the other participants’ blogs to see what they’re up to this week. Join us! Jooooiiiin uussss!

WHAT I’M READING

For book club this month, we’re reading Living Among Cannibals and Other Women’s Adventures by Michelle Slung. It’s a quick NF read about women doing awesome, adventurous stuff like skiing to the magnetic north pole with a sled dog as their only companion, or living in the rainforests of Africa to study mountain gorillas. It’s a fun book that makes you say, “Yeah women!” Also, I’m still listening to Enchantment by Orson Scott Card. Audiobooks aren’t my thing, I’ve learned. I wish they were! But, alas, no.

WHAT I’M WRITING

I’m into the 3rd act of THROUGH CLOUDED EYES, though I really need to go back to the second half of the 2nd act and make some big changes. I find myself getting burned out, mostly on editing but also only fully fleshing out my scenes and not just getting the dialogue and scene-blocking on there. This happened with ILLUMINATE THE NIGHT as well, so I think it’s safe to say it’s a weakness/tendency of mine. But I’m getting so close! Actually, after I get those edits in, I’ll be able to start the climax! It feels so good to be this close to finishing another manuscript.

My goal for this week is just to keep on keeping on. I’m trying to add 1300ish words a day, but today I’m feeling super burned out and decided to take the day off and focus on blogging instead. Then tomorrow I can tackle those edits and then continue my forward progress.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME

Writing every day. I used to think I wasn’t one of those writers, but I’ve been pretty good about writing every day since January 2014, and honestly I can’t imagine going back. Yes, I miss a day (sometimes two) every now and then, but the momentum I keep by writing every day is amazing. My brain really is used to being creative around 1 pm every day. Brains–aren’t they amazing? ^_^

WHAT ELSE I’M UP TO

I joined Camp NaNo for next month! If you’re doing it too, come find me! My goal is 30k on ItN, but that’s kind of an arbitrary number I pulled out of a hat, because I’ll be using a lot of the existing draft.

I also finally joined Instragram with an author account. I’m @krisatkinswrites (of course)–come find me if you’re on the ‘gram! I’m really enjoying it as an easy way to connect to the world wide web 3 times a week.

What’s Up Wednesday is an easy and fun weekly blog hop that’s hosted by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk. All you do is answer the four main questions, then visit the other participants’ blogs to see what they’re up to this week. Join us! Jooooiiiin uussss!

WHAT I’M READING

We read Enchantment by Orson Scott Card for book club in February, and I’m terribly behind because I decided to try audio books. Aha! I thought, I can listen to books while I fold laundry and clean the kitchen! Except I hate folding laundry, so I kept avoiding it. Anyhow, I’m really enjoying the book. I read it back in high school and liked it a lot. I love re-reading books from my teen years because you respond differently as an adult, and it’s interesting to compare. I definitely recommend it.

WHAT I’M WRITING + A GOAL

Drafting is coming along swimmingly for THROUGH CLOUDED EYES. I’m at 46k words (out of a projected 80k), with a clear path to the end and good word counts every day. To finish the book by the end of the month, I need to write 1,161 words every day (except I missed Monday, so I’ll have to make that up sometime this week).

I also finally figured out how to fix ILLUMINATE THE NIGHT, and did a fairly-tight (for me) outline. I’m pitching it in May (ack!) and will start on my next draft in April. BECAUSE I WILL FINISH THE FIRST DRAFT OF TCE BY THE END OF THIS MONTH!!

For my weekly goal I’m going to continue on my 1,161 words a day, which will put me at least at 54k words next Wednesday. We’ll see if I check in though. I’ll try! :)

WHAT WORKS FOR ME

Okay, so, personal deadlines rarely work for me, to be honest. There’s no consequence if I don’t meet them. But with my pitch session in a couple months, I’ve found my fire. Something else I’ve done to keep me trucking along on TCE has been to have a friend (who is a reader but has no inclinations to write) read a few chapters every week. It’s good motivation because I have to get her something new every week(ish). I’ve been pleasantly surprised how well this has worked out for me. I’m not sure if she agrees, reading the very first draft and the accompanying terrible writing, but I’m certainly benefiting. ^_^

WHAT ELSE I’M UP TO

January and February were rough months, the kind where you keep your head down and plow through. The Mister worked every single day from December 28th to February 18th (with the one exception of Sunday February 1st), and worked past Turbo’s bed time most nights. Single parents and military spouses: I’ve always saluted you, but now it’s even more fervently. That was exhausting and I wasn’t the best mom all the time. But we made it through with a lot of play dates and LOTS of Chick-fil-A visits. We’ve had a ton of snow recently, which I don’t mind, but I’ve got an eye toward spring, my very favorite time of the year!

Ahh, the beginning of a new year. A time for reflection and goal making. Yep, I’m not a resolutions girl. I make goals. I’ve been thinking about what I’d like to accomplish this year, and think I’ve got it figured out. But this year, I’m going to do things a little differently … I’m going to make my writing goals one quarter at a time.

-Finish the first draft of THROUGH CLOUDED EYES. I’m currently at 30k of a projected 80k. Totally doable.

-Decide what to do about the currently-drawered ILLUMINATE THE NIGHT. I love that book and I believe in it, and I need to figure out its future.

What’s Up Wednesday is an easy and fun weekly blog hop that’s hosted by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk. All you do is answer the four main questions, then visit the other participants’ blogs to see what they’re up to this week. Join us! Jooooiiiin uussss!

WHAT I’M READING

I am in the middle of the delightful and delightfully creepy The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I think Neil Gaiman for kids is my favorite Neil Gaiman. This is my book club’s October pick and it’s just perfect for Halloween! It’s also a fast read, and my edition has pictures, so triple fun.

WHAT I’M WRITING

Wow, it’s been almost 3 months since my last WUW post. Things got a little rough starting in July, to the tune of depression. Seemingly endless depression that was getting worse and worse. (If I’m ever quiet for a long time without announcing radio silence beforehand, you can assume depression is the reason.) It’s not that I’m afraid of opening up when I’m depressed, it’s just that everything suddenly seems much bigger than it is, including blogging. I’d log on and stare at my blog and decide it was too much effort. So … yeah. Yay depression!

Anyhow, part of my depression was a dark night of my writerly soul. So, last you heard, I was getting into my revisions on ILLUMINATE THE NIGHT. Then I had the realization that my book was nowhere where I thought it was. I mean, I already knew I wasn’t writing to the level I aspire, but I thought I was closer than I was and the epiphany was a painful one. Very painful. Especially given the fact that I was already depressed. So I had some big chat sessions with two friends and some family members, and decided that it was time to put ItN aside.

Have you ever decided to drawer a manuscript? It’s painful. So very, very painful. And this isn’t even for good. I still whole-heartedly believe in this story and its potential, but I need space. So, I’m putting it aside for several months and have started working on THROUGH CLOUDED EYES again.

And what a fantastic idea that was!! I’ve rediscovered my joy, and avoided the mistakes I was making with ItN, and the difference is noticeable. My writing group has commented multiple times that this first draft of TCE is stronger than any draft of ItN. It seems I’ve learned something after all–which was so good to hear. It’s good to know that I actually was progressing, not backtracking like I originally thought. So, I’m 25% of the way through TCE and I’ve realized some changes that need to be made to the story and one of the relationships (that impact the whole book in a big way). I’m fixing all of that in the First Act, and then I’ll continue onward. I joined the YA Buccaneers Fall Writing Bootcamp with the overall goal of finishing this first draft by the end of November. My goal for October is 30k new words. Yikes! But I also realized, during the dark night of my soul, that writing is the only thing I have control over in my life right now. Well, one of the only things. So I need to act like it.

Other than slowly coming out of my depression, just being a mama to a busy nearly two-year-old. I’ve also gotten fairly active on Twitter. Come chat with me! I’m back to writing every day, which is great. I did my first cyclocross race a couple of weeks ago and hope to race again next weekend. Cyclocross is basically a hybrid between road and mountain biking and it’s a freaking blast. I got to ride through mud!

What’s Up Wednesday is an easy and fun weekly blog hop that’s hosted by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk. All you do is answer the four main questions, then visit the other participants’ blogs to see what they’re up to this week. Join us! Jooooiiiin uussss!

WHAT I’M READING

Actually, nothing. *gasp!* I finished Shadow and Bone on July 4th, and I haven’t started anything since then. And it just now hit me. WEIRD. We’re reading Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies for book club and this is one I really want to own so I plan on buying it. And, naturally, didn’t find the time to get to the book store last week because my sister came to play! And we were very, very lazy. So lazy, in fact, that I did no writing, but she and I had lots of brainstorming sessions which was very helpful. We have more house guests coming tomorrow for the night, then more on Friday for a few days. So, I probably won’t get a ton of reading done in that time either. Goodness! But after that, my life will calm down and the reading and writing time will be mine! YESSSS.

WHAT I’M WRITING

I’m (finally) officially into this round of revisions. With my last draft, I moved my scenes around and then went through chapter-by-chapter, but this time I think it will work better to move them as I go. I edited Chapter Two yesterday (over 1500 new words! woot!) and today will be spent moving scenes around … which I’m not looking forward to because that might be the hardest part of revisions for me. It’s worth it, but sooooo much work. So, wish me luck!

WHAT INSPIRES ME

So, I was feeling really discouraged. Wanting to work on THROUGH CLOUDED EYES (aka the book of my heart) and wondering if all this work will be worth it in the end. And then I had this random idea.

See this image?

[Pic redacted.]

I shared it once in a blog post, and a friend who is familiar with the story said it would make a great cover for my book.

She’s right, of course. So, in a random moment, I made that image the wallpaper for my phone’s lock screen.

And that was an awesome decision. Because every time I turn on my phone screen (which is dozens of times a day, sadly) I see it and get excited and inspired and very motivated.

I highly recommend it.

WHAT ELSE I’M UP TO

Well, we went to Breckenridge, CO, for the 4th and It. Was. Awesome. I didn’t want to come back, but I kinda did because the next day my sister came to visit! She stayed with us for a full week and there was much eating and hanging out and swimming and napping. I also got a cold, which was a bummer. And, as I said above, we have a series of house guests in the next week and I’m tired just thinking about it. But I’m determined to revise five chapters this week (despite spending two days on one chapter). I will prevail!

How about you, dear friends? How is your writing going? Reading anything fabulous? Do tell.